Stanley Ohlswager | + Follow Poet |
Light Verse | + Fav Poem | Comment | Email | Print |

Exfoliation I Am

EXFOLIATION, I AM      
 
In my advanced age am I but 
       The castoff--remnants 
Of a vitality that once was and has  been pushed aside?
      Am I only its exfoliation? 
I  don’t want to think so, but that is now;
      What came before is shown below:
      
For decades three plus three
      Nature with her laws discovered by
Newton, Boyle, Bernoulli 
      Was companion to me 
As I experienced the excitement of creativity
       In my work overriding the possible drudgery
Of  jobs that have little rewarding activity.

Half century plus ten I was blessed with
      Wife and family and the role of
Provider, father, lover shared with She
      Who enlivened me.

Car full headed North, lake in view,
       Wife, three kids oh so very excited.

Driving West, mountain view.
       Watch for antelope, but watch for rattlers uninvited.
Reading  aloud became good habit,
       Followed the adventures of rascally Brer Rabbit.
Later the kids entered college by matriculation.
       Then we proudly attended their graduation.
Followed by weddings three,
        Grandkids soon to be.
A basement room all mine to whittle and carve,
       Saw and drill, all to my own design!
And all this with wife’s loving smile,
       Nurturing care for me and family.
And special nighttime treat for me:
       The warm curves of femininity.
Yes, a house, a home, a nest
       For fulfillment of many a quest.

Then all suddenly gone--no more       
Wife taken by stroke at 84.

 Now living alone in senior facility for independence
       With feelings of life in the deep-end-ence
Of water’s eddying spirals 
Of gremlin virals 
In Devil’s domain 
       Of assorted pains
And energy gone south.
Through West window I can see
       A hospital’s room emergency reminding me 
Of the fragility of my mortality.

Enough of this gloom! Look about this room,
       There are friends on end!
I do have a special friend, 
One who sustains me
       And when I do see often
The hardness of loneliness does soften.

I see no need of future to aspire to, just experience today.
       For now, yes, we have the exfoliation 
Of our prior activities whose flakes are shards 
       Of knowledge and creativity. Use them!
Exfoliated for me has been a love of writing poetry.
       (on that I needn’t expound; 
On reading here I trust you’ve found).

When at times I feel alone and tired to the bone
       I must remember I can draw on the past (not live what was last )
Or devise something new for something to do
       The next hour or two.
Adhere fast to life! (with rivet or glue)* JUST LIVE IT!
* As an avid consumer of metaphoric humor
                    This; rivet or glue, I couldn’t resist. 
            So see, just writing this has brought life to me!

Please Login to post a comment

John Beam Date: 1/28/2017 6:51:00 PM Nicely done, Stanley. Rage, rage against the dying of the light Login to Reply